The Death Eater Holidays: Writing Contest
by Muchcoffee
Summary: News, rules and information for the winter writing contest hosted by Flyinglion and Muchcoffee.  Please check it out and spam your friends with it!
1. Chapter 1

Winter is almost here, and no matter what you celebrate, it is a time of year to enjoy yourself…and write fanfiction! Authors Flyinglion and Muchcoffe are hosting a writing competition: The Death Eater Holidays! If you are interested in entering, please read and abide by the following specifications CAREFULLY, and add this document to your story alerts. We will be announcing any additional details, and the winner in this same story!

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**RULES:**

Must be winter-holiday themed

Main character(s) must be death eater(s) (including Snape, Draco, Narcissa, Fenrir, Karkaroff, Voldemort as death eaters - and don't forget minor death eaters like Avery and Mulciber!)

Cannot contain graphic sexual content or other extreme adult content.

Must be a one-shot

Must be an original entry written for this contest

Must be clearly labeled as being for this contest (please PM both Flyinglion and Muchcoffee when your entry is posted, and please include a link to the entry story.)

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**Our scoring will be based on:**

Spelling and grammar

Originality

Trueness to character

Quality of storyline and character exploration

Emotional impact (we'll do our best to be impartial)

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The deadline is Christmas (Saturday, December 25), and the winner and top stories will be announced the first day of 2011!

The 'prize' for the winner will be, if you want, a one-shot written just for you by Flyinglion and Muchcoffee, with your specifications (must be in the Harry Potter fandom, cannot request smut, please specify main character(s), setting, and general plot/theme (such as 'Hermione's New Year', or 'Draco gets a Pet'.)) If you do not want this prize, please inform one or both of the hosts.

We will also advertise the winner's works by mentioning them in the author's notes of our next few stories, whether you request the one-shot or not.

Please pay careful attention to the rules. Happy writing!

(By the way, due to family relations with the hosts, writers Amela333 and ASF13957 will not be counted as contenders, even though they will be entering their stories.)


	2. Chapter 2

Our contestants have posted their entries! All updates and information on the competition will be made here, in this 'story.'

The first post was by nony0mous, with "Death Eaters vs Santa," a humorous take on the holidays of the evil.

Profile: .net/s/6550542/1/Death_Eaters_vs_Santa

Story: .net/s/6550542/1/Death_Eaters_vs_Santa

The second post was by Nicoley177-TheBlueMartini, with "Blue Christmas," an emotional look at Snape's Christmas experiences.

Profile: .net/u/603367/Nicoley117_TheBlueMartini

Story: .net/s/6586891/1/Blue_Christmas

Thank you both very much for your entries, we really enjoyed reading both of them! And the fact that they were so different made it even more fun.

An unofficial contestant, ASF13957, posted their unofficial entry, "Holidays in Azkaban," which offers an idea as to what people actually _do _in Azkaban, when they're not drooling or screaming.

Story: .net/s/6521521/1/Holidays_in_Azkaban

Since there were only a few entries, everyone gets a very honorable mention, whatever the results may be.

Muchcoffee and Flyinglion are at this very moment wracking their brains for a result for this competition, which will be announced Jan 1st. Enjoy the last of 2010!

P.S. The links are a little messed up. Add "http : / www. fanfiction" in front of them, without the spaces, and they will work. Sorry about that. Or just do a search for the author.


	3. Chapter 3

Change of plans, the results are in today!

Based on the things we're scoring on, the winner is Nicoley117-TheBlueMartini with Blue Christmas! Congrats Nicole! If you'd like the one-shot prize (see Chapter 1) contact us when you feel like it.

Since there were only two real competitors, both will receive honorable mentions (meaning their works will be advertised) in our upcoming stories. We'd also like to review both entries since we had such a difficult time choosing between them.

Blue Christmas by Nicoley117-TheBlueMartini: This story was original and very touching. It had much emotion and showed a deep relationship between Snape and Lily. The characterization was very good and the entire concept was believable. The writing style was easy to follow and descriptive. All-around it was well-written story. One critique would be that we felt like there could've been a larger cast.

Death Eaters vs Santa by Nony0mous: This story was very light and entertaining. We enjoyed the references to non HP works and thought the idea for the story was very original. We also liked the large cast incorporated. However, we felt that, at times, the writing style was a little crowded and slightly confusing.

We'd also like to give a quick shout-out to ASF13957 who, because of family relations, couldn't be fairly judged for the contest but wrote a great entry anyway. Nice job!

Like we said, it was a_ really_ tough decision. In the end, we felt like probably the deciding factor was that Blue Christmas by Nicoley117-TheBlueMartini left more of an emotional impact on us. That being said, you both wrote wonderfully! We hope to read more stories from both of you. Have a happy new year :D

~Muchcoffee and Flyinglion


End file.
